Lisa Howell, who runs Domestic Abuse Intervention Training 4 Change (DAIT), was working for free at the start of the year in order to keep the charity open to women who were seeking support from abusive partners.
As previously reported, the programme was set up 11 years ago by a women’s refuge manager in Dorchester but has recently fallen on financial difficulty after losing funding.
The organisation is now safe from closure for the time being, after raising £2,295 via the GoFundMe online fundraiser set up by Lisa in January. The highest donor, Brian Bates, kindly donated £1,000 to the community interest company.
After applying for several grants from authorities with little success, Lisa was surprised to discover she would receive a grant from Weymouth Town Council of £3,900, approved at a finance and government committee meeting.
Unlike other organisations, the not-for-profit group DAIT 4 Change splits its approach to healing from abuse into two programmes which are free and women do not have to have left their abuser to seek help.
Lisa said: “The Freedom and Recovery Toolkit will run online starting April 22 and in Dorchester starting April 23. I’m accepting all referrals and will be contacting anyone on our waiting list before the start date.”
As well as meetings in Dorchester, staff at DAIT are committed to continuing online sessions for women who cannot make it to face to face sessions and who may still live with abusive partners.
The programmes initially ran online through Covid-19, and Lisa and staff decided to continue after the pandemic to reach a wider group of women in Dorset.
One woman, who used the group following years of abuse from her partner said of the sessions: “If I hadn’t had access to such a brilliant support I would have felt alone, ashamed, depressed and would truly have struggled to cope.
“If I hadn’t had reassurance that I was right to leave the relationship at last, I don’t know if I would be alive and I’m sure there are a huge number of women whose lives have been saved because of these courses.”
Cllr David Civil, Chair of the Finance and Governance Committee at Weymouth Town Council, said: “Several community grants were awarded at Finance and Governance Committee recently, including £3,900 for DAIT 4 Change.
“The committee supported their application which will go towards offering free courses as part of ‘The Freedom Programme’, which is suitable for women who have left or are still in an abusive relationship.”
Donations can still be made through DAIT 4 Change’s GoFundMe page https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-support-dait-4-change